Episode 5 of 21: Cane and beans- It is a crop rotation strategy, not a cocktail.

In this podcast episode of ‘We’ve Bean around the Block’ host Antony Jarvie joins up with sugar cane extension specialist Dave Wilkinson to discuss the prospects of Sugar cane – Sugar bean rotation. In an industry that is threatened by oversupply and a need for diversification, sugar cane growers are looking for a suitable rotation crop that will fit into their cropping cycles. The sugar cane area of adaptation is subset of the area of adaptation of dry beans. Commercially, most of the country’s bean crop is grown on the highveld, but dry beans are well suited to planting in the warmer ‘cane areas’ areas with later planting dates. The potential problems for cane-bean rotations are discussed, including the probability of herbicide residues. The steep slopes of coastal sugar cane crops make that area less accessible to mechanized bean planting and harvesting, but around 70% of the cane in the KZN midlands region would have suitable slopes for mechanized production. Cane farmers as a group are not exposed to the intricacies of disposing of their crop on the free market, so getting involved in bean grain sales may provide a challenge to some. One of the solutions offered on this podcast is for cane producers to ‘twin’ their bean production with a current bean producer from the highveld production areas, thereby offering risk mitigation to both groups. The bean industry in South Africa desperately needs to raise hectarage to compete for research and input supplier attention and rotating cane with beans would thus serve both industries.